A Sexual Offenses and Domestic Violence Court in Ikeja, Lagos state, heard on Monday how the 17-year-old daughter of a businesswoman was allegedly desecrated by a pastor, Chris McDouglas.
The witness said that McDouglas, pastor of Peculiar Generation Assembly Church, Lagos, allegedly had sexual relations with the survivor at the back of his church and in different hotels on several occasions.
The victim’s mother, who was presented as main evidence by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Dr. Babajide Martins, told the court that the defendant raped her daughter between 2017 and 2020 under the pretext of taking her to minister the gospel.
McDouglas is on trial on nine charges bordering on desecration, rape and penetrative sexual assault, brought against him by the Lagos state government.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
According to her, when she confronted the defendant for defiling her daughter, he burst into tears and blamed the devil.
She said, “Pastor McDouglas will come to my house and ask my daughter to follow him to minister to use her talents as a chorister to bless others.
“Unknown to me, according to my daughter, when he takes her to minister, he branches out to a hotel and has sex with her.
“When I confronted him with some church leaders, he said that he had been deceived by the devil and told me to forgive him.”
The witness, who testified before Judge Ramón Oshodi, said that she recorded their conversation and the alleged confession of the defendant on her phone.
“The pastor, whom I trusted so much with my family and saw as my spiritual father, came into my house every time I was not there to have sex with my daughter.
“My daughter told me that Pastor McDouglas would sneak into the house while I wasn’t around, cover the curtains, cover her mouth and force herself.
“My daughter said that when he sees that he wants to shout to attract our neighbors, the pastor will take out the well-used clothes that I sell and pretend that he is selecting them,” she added.
He said his daughter’s alleged sexual encounter with the defendant led her (the victim) into a depression that caused her to constantly black out.
The witness added that the defendant would come to the house and pray for the survivor every time she fainted and also told them to plant seeds in the church so that she would stay alive.
She said: “I used my salary most of the time to plant seeds following Pastor McDouglas’ instructions and my husband also gave him money to buy supplements for me.
“She said that sometimes the pastor calls her home to help wash her children’s clothes and ended up raping her at home.
“He threatened my daughter that she would die if she told anyone.”
During cross-examination by defense counsel, Mr. Suleiman Salami, the witness told the court that she had known the defendant for more than 12 years and that her husband had been out of Nigeria for 10 years.
He stated that the defendant used to collect money from his family and did not offer financial help to his family.
The woman said she was a member of the usher department, an administrative officer and a member of the church’s building committee, but left the church in 2020.
She confirmed to the court that the survivor, who was her first child, was depressed from 2017 to 2020.
“My daughter is in a bad mood every time she comes back from the pastor’s house, which is inside the church.
“The pastor does not give me a break since he is always at my house.
“My daughter always faints every time she returns from ministering and the pastor always gives her holy water to drink.
“This has affected my daughter as she is always suicidal because once I got a call from her school wanting to buy a bug spray,” she said.
